Thankful
by Dave the Wordsmith
Summary: Sequel to "Unbelievable". It's almost Thanksgiving Day and Steve and Laura have to help Rachel get to Chicago from Detroit due to a sudden mishap. Will they make it back in time for Thanksgiving?
1. The Phone Call

**Chapter One: The Phone Call**

"It sure is great to see you guys again," Laura Lee Winslow Urkel remarked, taking a spoonful of her chicken noodle soup. Looking around at her parents, she smiled as the peaceful quietness began to sink in and make her even more relaxed. Carl Winslow and Harriette Winslow, her parents, smiled and nodded in agreement. Both of them sat happily next to her at their dining room table, the same table they gathered at for years every evening to talk, exchange news among other things. A few months had passed since Laura's birthday that marked her 23rd and Thanksgiving was only a few days away. Ever since her birthday, she felt even more thankful for having the man that she has known for most of her life as her husband. The same man who in Kindergarten agreed to eat Play-Doh after she had told him to. The same man who offered the wedding ring to wear for their pretend marriage that they had to do for school. The same man who went through nine years of wanting to hear the three words "I Love You", with 'you' being Steve Urkel, and on their wedding day she meant each word. Remembering that she had an extra sick day and no class, she decided to spend it with her parents, especially with her mother. Not forgetting that during her birthday dinner, her father had told her that her mother was feeling a bit down about not seeing her children as often, she decided to keep to her word; that she would put aside time between work, school and other personal plans to chat and catch up on things with her mom and dad. She had asked Steve and Eddie to do the same, the both of them agreeing to do so.

"No problem, sweetheart," Carl chimed in, dressed in his white Captain uniform and reading the newspaper. Harriette flicked her wrist and looked at her watch, looking at the back door soon after.

"Laura, Eddie said he would be here right?"

"Of course, mom," Laura answered. "But you know how he is."

"Talking about he's known as the 'Prince of Love', right?" Harriette sarcastically questioned, receiving a nod from Laura.

"Mmm hmm. But known only to us and Greta, and nobody else," Laura answered as the both of them laughed.

"Hidey ho, Harriette! Big Guy! Laura Lee!" A familiar voice shouted as he strutted in backwards through the kitchen door, wearing his new chosen attire from his makeover of a nicely pressed tan button up shirt and dark brown slacks with brown casual shoes. Carrying a tray full of glasses filled with various kinds of sodas in his hands, Carl looked on with a concerned look on his face.

"Let me help you with that, Steve." He said, standing up and walking over to Steve, who almost dropped the tray.

"Don't worry Big Guy, I got it!"

"No, Steve, let me help," Carl pressed on, grabbing one edge of the tray.

"Carl, don't be so silly, it's only a few sody pops on here! I'll make it!" Steve managed to take the tray out of his hands, accidentally causing some of the liquid from one of the glasses to splash on Carl's face. "Sorry Carl…"

Controlling his anger and muttering a few words recommended by his doctor to say in case stress came over him, Carl walked away and over to where the paper towels were and wiped off his face. Steve continued to put the sodas on the table as he felt Laura's hand caressing his in an attempt to help him feel better.

"'Sup guys!" Eddie walked in through the back door, dressed in his blue police officer uniform and began to hug his sister and mother who were both still seated at the table.

"Hey Eddie," Harriette responded, Laura soon repeating after her mother.

"Where's the grub?" Eddie rubbed his stomach. "Arresting a few suspects and a few hours of patrol can make a brother hungry!"

"Over there is the chicken soup and there's some other food over there by the stove," Harriette answered her son, the latter making his way to the pot containing the sustenance his stomach was looking for.

"I'm real sorry Big Guy," Steve walked over to Carl, who had managed to take out the few spots on his uniform with the paper towel in his hand.

"It's okay Steve, no biggie," Carl patted Steve on the shoulder and walked over to the back door, grabbing his hat from off of the coat rack next to the door. Steve looked on surprise, expecting Carl to explode and yell at him but received nothing except a smile and a reassuring pat on the back. "See you guys later, I've gotta head back to work."

"See you tonight Carl." Harriette said, a smile on her face.

"See you, sweetheart." Carl said before leaving out the door.

"What in gadzooks is up with Big Guy?" Steve looked on in amazement, still in astonishment of Carl's behavior.

"What do you mean, Steve?" Harriette wondered, taking a sip of one of the sodas that were placed on the table.

"After I spilled a drink on him, I didn't hear one yell or feel one grab or anything!"

"Well…" Harriette began to explain as she got up and walked over to Steve. "Ever since you and Laura got married, he felt that after all the good things that you did do for us, and especially for Laura…that he would turn over a new leaf."

"We're talking about the same Carl, right Harriette?" Steve asked with a look of suspicion on his face, receiving a nod from his mother-in-law. "Big Guy? Carl Winslow? The Carl Winslow that lives here in this house and is married to you?"

"The same one." Harriette answered with confidence. "And I'm glad the three of you could make it. I've missed you guys."

"Awww, mom," Laura said, feeling as if she were about to jump out of her seat to hug her mother.

"No prob, mom," Eddie said as he carried his bowl over to his seat at the table next to Laura and began to dig in to his food.

"You're welcome, Harriette!" Steve smiled, stretching his arms out for a hug. Walking over to him, she embraced her son-in-law. Steve looked down at Harriette, surprised that for the first time she accepted one of his hugs.

"Thanks again…son."

* * *

"Oh where did the time go?" Steve sighed and tightened his grip of his steering wheel of the trusty 1960 BMW Isetta. Driving down the dark street that led back to his home with Laura by his side, for a moment he looked at her sleeping visage lying on his shoulder and then quickly put his eyes back on the road. He wished that he could freeze that moment and look at her serene face resting in peace, but he knew that he had to keep his eyes on the road.

"…Steve?" Laura's eyes opened a little as she looked around to see where she was.

"We're almost home, Laura Lee," Steve put his arm around Laura's shoulder, snuggling her close to his side.

"I've been so tired from work and school, as soon as I sat in this seat, I fell asleep just like THAT," Laura snapped her fingers.

"Well, tomorrow is the weekend, so you can get all the sleep you want."

"Steve…thanks."

"For what, my sweet?"

"For everything…and for you being here."

"Anytime, Laura Lee. Anytime."

* * *

"Hello?" Steve picked up the phone on the table next to the sofa, happening to hear it ring as he left the kitchen. It had been a day since Steve and Laura had visited their parents' home and things were going well with Steve and Laura as well as the rest of the Winslows. "Oh hey Rachel!"

"Hey Steve…"

"Is everything all right?"

"Not really…you see…the airport's been snowed in and I won't be able to make it to see you guys until the day after Thanksgiving unless someone picks me up."

During this conversation, Laura began to walk down the staircase that was almost a complete replica of the one at her parents' home, suddenly hearing Steve's voice from her bedroom that cut through the silence that had previously filled the entire house. As she reached the final step, Laura's ears perked at the words "snowed in". Walking next to Steve, she had one hand on her hip as Steve covered the phone with one hand and whispered that it was her Aunt Rachel, to which Laura nodded.

"Well, if we leave right now to get you we'll be able to arrive tonight and bring you by the Winslows' house in the morning."

"Thanks a lot Steve. I'm sorry Harriette and Carl couldn't make it, but they told me they were tied up with things going on at the house."

"No problem Rachel, we'll be there in a jiff!"

Hanging up the phone, Laura clasped her hands and walked over to Steve who had gone over to the coat rack to put on his thick gray coat.

"Steve? What's going on?" Laura asked as she suddenly felt her own coat suddenly placed in her hands by the fast moving Steve.

"Get your scarf and boots, Laura Lee! Rachel's snowed in at the airport in Detroit and we're gonna pick her up!"

* * *

**To Be Continued...**


	2. Driving Miss Rachel

**Chapter Two: Driving Miss Rachel**

Finally arriving at the loading zone of the airline that Rachel was flying in, Steve parked the Isetta near the curb behind another person's black truck that was parked there as well.

"Well, here goes nothing!"

Turning the car engine off, Steve sighed for a minute before opening the front door, knowing that he would have to be careful about how he got out.

"With all this snow, you'd think the whole world was shoved in a freezer," Laura shivered, folding her arms against her body to keep warm. Staring out at the deep snow covered ground with various tire tracks and chain marks imprinted on the street, Laura stepped out of the Isetta's wide front door that was held open by Steve and took a few slow steps in the snow that reached up to the middle of her shins to get onto the sidewalk. Looking back toward Steve, whose face was almost completely covered by numerous scarves and his trademark plaid, furry hat, he almost slipped onto the ground as one of his boots came upon a hidden patch of ice. Catching himself on the front door of his Isetta which accidentally slammed shut with a loud thud, he stood up straight to catch his breath and regain his balance.

"Steve, you okay?" Laura asked from under her bright red scarf, extending a hand for Steve to hold.

"I'm okay! Just peachy!" Steve answered, taking a careful step onto the curb that had quite a bit of snow covering it but not as much as the main road. "Just like hammocks and coat racks, I don't get along with ice!"

"Laura? Steve?" A familiar voice called out that cut through the loud, cold wind blowing on their faces. Turning around, both Laura and Steve found their aunt standing there a few yards away with a few small bags in each hand.

"Aunt Rachel!" Laura shouted as she walked toward the figure dressed in matching red coat and pants with tall black boots.

"Thanks so much you guys!" Rachel yelled over the fierce winds, setting her luggage down and reaching out to embrace her niece, the two of them soon after walking over to where Steve and the Isetta were located. "They said the storm should be letting up a little bit, but the planes still won't be leaving until the day after Thanksgiving!"

"That's a darn shame!" Steve exclaimed as he helped Rachel put her luggage on the small rack located above the main seat of the car. "But don't worry; we'll be back in no time!" Steve added as the three of them squeezed into Steve's Isetta and began to drive off and head toward the freeway that led back to Chicago.

"Yeah Aunt Rachel," Laura said. "We want to make sure everyone is here for Thanksgiving! We almost couldn't see you last Christmas because of this crazy Detroit weather! And we thought Chicago was bad!"

"Ain't that the truth," Rachel sighed. "But your Aunt Helen is getting better now, so we believe in a few more months Mother Winslow and I can move back to Chicago after your aunt is 100%!"

"Great!" Steve exclaimed, continuing to keep his eyes on the road as he made his way onto the onramp of the freeway and carefully followed a large white pickup truck into the correct lane of the highway.

* * *

"Good evening Carl," Harriette walked into the kitchen and kissed her husband, who was sitting at the family table reading the newspaper. Setting her purse on the counter, she grabbed a small glass and began filling it with some lemonade from the pitcher sitting in front of Carl.

"Good evening sweetheart," Carl said, turning the page of his newspaper with a quiet but still noticeable crinkling noise.

"I can't wait until tomorrow, honey," Harriette's smile grew as she walked over to the refrigerator and opened it, spotting the large turkey sitting in the middle shelf. "This was the best bird in town and I spent hours finding it."

"Me too, Harriette. You know, that was very nice of Steve for willing to pick Rachel up out of the blue like that. I can't believe I even said 'very nice' and had Steve's name included," Carl laughed, setting the newspaper he had just folded up onto the table. "But, Harriette…who knew these things would come up? I still had to carry out some patrols while you were unable to get the day before Thanksgiving off."

"Yeah, and I'm glad Rachel understood that we would be tied up," Harriette said. "Not only were we tied up by our jobs, but also by the duty of getting this Thanksgiving dinner ready. By the time the food's ready tomorrow, we will already have passed out from all the work we had to do."

"You're right about that, Harriette," Carl chuckled, getting out of his seat to walk over to his wife standing by the kitchen counter and put his arm around her waist. "But tomorrow, everyone's gonna be here. Mother's gonna be here. Eddie…Laura…Rachel…and Steve." Carl mentioned Steve's name with a small bitter taste in his mouth, but knew that he was now a part of their family and would do his best to be a true friend as well as father-in-law. Not to mention the fact that he had promised to treat Steve better due to the many positive things he had done to help his family out.

"Don't worry, honey," Harriette reassured Carl, quickly patting his back for a few seconds before leaving his embrace. "Steve is a good young man. Plus, he's your son-in-law now."

"Sweetheart, nine years ago, if you had ever said Steve Urkel would be my son-in-law, I would have asked you to look outside and see any pigs in the sky," Carl laughed as Harriette continued her journey up the stairs. Sitting back down as his usual spot at the kitchen table, he took one last sip of his drink and sighed. "…But I probably would have believed you."

* * *

"…Mmmm…" Laura stirred for a few minutes before blinking her eyes, realizing that she had fallen asleep. Looking on both sides, she realized that she was still between Steve and Rachel, who were both wide awake. "Are we almost there, Steve?"

"Absolutely! Just about ninety miles left to go and we'll be back before you know it!"

"I can already picture the dinner we're gonna have this evening…the golden brown turkey…mashed potatoes and gravy…macaroni and cheese…greens…sweet potatoes…" Rachel almost lost herself in her reverie before realizing that she was going on for too long and stopped.

"Keep going, Rachel, keep going!" Steve almost licked his lips as he drove into the lane that would take him onto the first major freeway needed to head back to Chicago.

"Aunt Rachel, are Richie and 3J doing fine?"

"Oh yeah, they sure are, especially my Richie," Rachel smiled. "I let him and 3J stay over with your Aunt Helen, though. They wanted to stay with her, and hearing them say that surprised the heck outta me."

"I know what you mean," Laura smiled back at her Aunt Rachel. "You can't go a Thanksgiving, or even Christmas, without grandma's cooking!"

"You've got that right."

Suddenly feeling the Isetta shake violently a few times, both Rachel and Laura looked at Steve, who was pushing a few knobs and turning a few dials on the dashboard in front of him.

"Steve, what's going on?" Rachel asked, looking at what Steve was doing.

"I was afraid this was gonna happen! It only happens a few times out of the year, and luckily when there's no SNOW around!"

"What do you mean, Steve?" Laura wondered, a bit of worry in the tone of her voice.

"For some strange reason, ever since I added that GPS system I received from NASA, this darn engine turns off whenever it wants to, and turns back on whenever it wants to," Steve answered as the Isetta began to quickly slow down almost to a complete stop. Pulling the car over to the shoulder of the freeway, Steve tried putting his foot on the accelerator to see if it would turn go any faster, but to no avail. "I've tried to fix it in my spare time, but I can't get to the root of the problem…I'm sorry gals, but we may be here for a few hours or so…if we're lucky…"

**To Be Continued...**


	3. Thankful

**Chapter Three: Thankful**

Staring at the clock display on the radio that read 8:40 am, Laura Urkel sighed and crossed her arms, bringing her heavy red coat and scarf wrapped snugly around her neck closer to her body. She looked to her right to see Rachel Crawford asleep, resting her head against one of her small bags propped up against the side of the car. Wanting to ask her something, she thought otherwise as she saw her aunt stir a little bit before bringing her knees closer to her stomach in an attempt to get some more heat to her body. Laura quickly reached under the seat and felt her hand brush against the small white blanket she was looking for. Draping the blanket over Rachel's chest and shoulders, she went back to her seat in the middle of the Isetta, waiting for her husband Steve Urkel to return. It had been a few hours since he had left and went to the back of the Isetta, where the engine equipped with the GPS system connections was located, to see what was going on. She had checked with him a few times, bearing the cold, piercing winds that had grown even fiercer to make sure that he was all right as well as the status of the car. Wondering what was going on, Laura gently tapped her aunt Rachel to tell her she would be right back and quickly went out of the car. Hearing and seeing the numerous cars on the freeway next to them roaring and passing her by almost caught her by surprise, almost losing her scarf from a truck that had passed by. Looking down, she noticed that quite a bit of snow had disappeared, yet the temperature of the city of Indiana where they were located was as cold as Detroit.

"Steve!!" Laura shouted, taking her time to walk over to Steve, who had his head and arms buried in the back of the car, fixing a few items. "Are you okay?"

"I sure am, sweetums!" Steve managed to yell over a brief rush of wind that blew past the both of them. "I figured out what the snafu was! For some reason, one of the commands the GPS was sending manages to make its' way into the engine circuitry and make the engine think I'm telling it to stop, and would cause it to turn off!"

"Will we be able to make it in time?"

"Absolutely!" Steve exclaimed, confidently closing the hood of the Isetta and wiping his gloved hands off. "In fact, I just finished putting these last few needed connections together and this baby should be ready to go!"

"Steve?" Laura asked before Steve managed to make his way to the front door.

"Uh, yes?" Steve turned back around, facing his wife.

"Thanks," She answered, hugging Steve, who smiled after receiving her loving embrace.

"You're always welcome, Laura Lee."

* * *

"Great to see you, Mother Winslow," Harriette helped her mother-in-law take off her coat as she walked in the house through the front door, still a little cold from the weather outside.

"You too, honey," Mother Winslow replied. "I couldn't bear to take another minute out there in that cold."

"Well, here at Hotel Winslow, we have plenty of warm heating and comfortable seats," Carl made his way out of the kitchen, walking over to his mother with open arms. Hugging and kissing his mother he laughed and smiled, happy to see her again.

"Aw, Carl," Mother Winslow smiled, looking up at her son. "It's great to be here in this house again."

"Don't worry momma, this is always home for you. It'll be here whenever you need it."

"Thanks you two," Mother Winslow said, following her children into the kitchen. "I can't wait to get started on my sweet potato pie."

"Me either momma," Carl happily said. "But it can never beat your gingerbread cookies. I just can't get enough of those."

"Have Rachel, Laura, Eddie and Steve made it yet?" Mother Winslow asked, choosing to sit at the end of the dinner table opposite of the seat Carl sat in.

"Not yet, but they should be here in a little while. Eddie still had to work today on a mandatory shift but it was only for the morning. Rachel, Laura and Steve are on their way here from Detroit," Harriette answered her mother-in-law as she began to mash the bits of mashed potatoes she had placed in a large glass bowl with her silver potato masher.

"That's good. I hope they make it."

"Me too momma," Carl stretched his hand across the table to cover hers. "Me too."

* * *

"Come on," Steve turned the key of the ignition, trying to get the engine to start but to no avail as it quickly turned off as soon as it got started. It had been several hours since Steve had believed that he had fixed the engine and the GPS system, but it appeared he was not quite finished.

"Are you sure the GPS was the only problem with it, Steve?" Rachel asked with a concerned tone in her voice as she wanted to know what was going on.

"No doubt about it," Steve said. "Ever since I bought that puppy, it's been causing me some trouble…especially during the last part of this school semester."

"Well…the good thing is, it's only 1 o'clock and we're only eighty miles away from home. If we walk, we'll make it…and we'll get plenty of exercise," Rachel sighed, unknowingly bringing some sarcasm into her voice in her response.

"Aww, Aunt Rachel! Steve's doing the best he can!" Laura placed a hand on her aunt's shoulder in an attempt to help her feel better. "Eventually it should start back up again, and we'll be back in time to eat that turkey."

"I hope so…" Rachel looked out the front window at the numerous cars passing them by over the freeway, lightly covered with snow, oil and ice.

"Aw, I need to stop fooling myself!" Steve sighed, falling back into his seat. "This was my entire fault…"

"Now Steve, it wasn't your fault at all," Rachel insisted. "Things happen, and we just have to be cool about this."

"Aunt Rachel's right, Steve."

"Well…" Steve began to say, turning the ignition to "on" again. "If it wasn't for this darn piece of junk, we'd be at the Winslow's already!"

Hitting the screen of the GPS located on the dashboard of the Isetta soon after expressing his anger, the engine suddenly revved for a few minutes before completely turning on and running smoothly. Hugging each other in surprise, Rachel and Laura quickly began to hug Steve as well, who was embarrassed yet happy about his unexpected achievement.

"You did it, Steve!" Laura shouted with joy.

"Thanks again, Steve. I couldn't have made it out of Detroit without you and your help," Rachel added.

"No problem Rachel! Well, Chicago! Here we come!" Steve took the emergency brake off and turned his left turn signal on, waiting for the right time before being able to merge into the far right lane of the freeway.

* * *

"What's wrong, sweetheart?" Carl asked Harriette, who was sitting at the dinner table with her head slightly down. Eddie and Greta, at this point, had arrived and were helping Mother Winslow out with the sweet potato pie, much to Harriette and Carl's surprise.

"I'm just worried about Rachel and the kids," Harriette sighed, resting her elbow on the table and putting her chin in the palm of her hand. "It's already two o'clock now, and no sign of them outside or even a phone call…"

"Don't worry Harriette, they'll be here in no time," Carl said, taking Harriette's hands into his own and rubbing them. "You even told momma herself that they would make it."

"I know Carl, but…that was three hours ago."

"They'll show up, sweetheart. They could pop in here right now."

"We're here, you guys!" Rachel walked in through the back door, making her way into the kitchen with a big smile on her face.

"Rachel, it's great to see you!" Harriette got up from her seat and hugged her little sister, who went over to hug Carl, Eddie, Mother Winslow and Greta. "Where are Laura and Steve?"

"Hidey ho, all!" Steve walked in through the slightly open back door, opening it a little bit more with his foot as he stepped inside the house. His hands were full carrying a few big plastic containers stacked on top of each other containing macaroni and cheese and bean casserole that Rachel had prepared. Rachel was willing to take them along with her on the plane even if they would not have allowed her to bring them on the flight.

"'Sup Steve," Eddie said, carrying the finished sweet potato pie over from the oven to the middle of the kitchen table where Greta was sitting.

"Hi Steve," Greta added, who was carefully putting some whipped cream on top of the pie.

"Hey Eddo! Hey Greta! Hey Estelle my belle!"

"Hey sugar!" Mother Winslow said from behind the kitchen counter, preparing her own homemade cranberry sauce.

"Steve, let me help you with that," Carl walked over to Steve, who was stumbling around with the two dishes in his hand. "You might drop them."

"It's all right, Big Guy, I've got it!" Steve said to Carl, deciding to place them on the kitchen table right next to him instead of the kitchen counter, as he usually would do.

"I guess you do."

"That chef training I had last year paid off somewhat," Steve said as he bent slightly down into his "I'm cool" pose and put a grin on his face.

"Hey everybody," Laura said, rolling the other suitcase Rachel had brought with her in its wheels that were on the bottom.

"Hey Laura," Eddie hugged his sister and insisted on taking the luggage with him back into the living room.

"Hey honey," Harriette said, hugging her daughter as well as Steve, who was smiling at the both of them in their warm, long embrace.

"Thanks again Steve, for getting us out of there," Laura hugged her husband once again, Steve returning her hug with an even tighter one. "For that, I'm very thankful. I love you, Steven Quincy Urkel."

"I love you too, Laura Lee Winslow Urkel."

* * *

**The End!**


End file.
